1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a masonry wall system and, more particularly, to an above ground lentil supported masonry wall having post tensioning elements.
2. Description of Related Art
The use of masonry walls is well known in the prior art. The significant pressures exerted by heaving soil due to freezing and melting of water requires prior art masonry walls to incorporate a significant amount of steel in the form of reinforcing bars extending through the voids or cells in the masonry block and into a foundation or a footer. A variety of other techniques have also been used in the prior art in an attempt to strengthen the wall and to provide sufficient resistance to the pressure caused by the soil pressing against the bottom of the wall; these techniques are usually complicated and are always expensive. Some prior art techniques have incorporated post tensioning rods wherein courses of block have been compressed with respect to each other and the compressed courses are then secured in some manner to a foundation. These latter techniques usually require expensive installation provisions for appropriately supporting the compressed courses on the designated foundation or footing.